SIIG ExpressCard 34 11-in-1 Media Card Reader

Posted 07/08/2006
Author: Matt Krei (FragTek)
Hardware Acquired: Newegg

Testing was completed using a new 17″ MacBook Pro equipped with an ExpressCard 34 slot, one of the only notebooks on the market to feature the slot.

The card slot is nicely covered by an aluminum hinged door to hide the slot while no card is inserted. Notice that the ExpressCard slots do not feature an “eject” tab like the PCMCIA cards do, very nice for conserving just that much more space.

ExpressCard utilizes a very intuitive retension system. It locks itself in place the same way that SecureDigital cards do as an example. You simply push the card all the way in until it locks in place, then push it in once again and the card slides right out, brilliant! Once locked in place the card sits completely flush with the edge of the notebook. No more bulky PCMCIA card hanging off the side of your sleek notebook.

The card used for testing the device in this review was a stock Canon 32MB SecureDigital card which came with my PowerShot S80. The SD card slid right in and locked in place just the same way as the ExpressCard did and only sticks out but just a tiny bit more than the side of the notebook. I imagine that longer flash cards such as the Sony MemorySticks may stick out a bit further than SD or xD cards.

The only thing I noticed that bothered me a bit was during removal of the SD card. It’s very easy to push the whole ExpressCard in to the notebook and delock it rather than the SD card if you’re not careful. That’s the only qualm I have about the card thus far.